Humor Good Union Between Two Cultures

Sat., May 6, 2000

Kerri Thoreson Special To Handle

Last week I attended a hospitality night as a guest of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe for a presentation on its casino expansion.

The tribe’s new hotel will add 108 guest rooms to the county, in addition to banquet, conference and meeting facilities.

The couple hundred attendees also enjoyed a wonderful buffet dinner with a comedy show to cap off the evening. Our host, Cliff SiJohn announced the act - Williams and Ree. Then he explained that they’re also well-known as The Indian and The White Guy.

These two established comedians also are accomplished singers and musicians. Bruce Williams is a native Idahoan and Terry Ree is a member of the Sioux tribe from South Dakota, which is where the partners met in 1968.

What followed was a comedy act titled, “We Are All the Same.” They took irreverent aim at all of the stereotypes, pulling no punches. I saw tribal council members laughing out loud at the Indian jokes and I know I saw a lot of humor in the “white guy” jokes. It occurred to me as I looked around at the white, brown and black faces in that room, we are all the same.

Maybe The Indian and The White Guy are onto something. Humor makes a wonderful bridge between cultures.

Speaking of cultural exchanges, Post Falls will be visited by the official band of our Associate City, Herborn, Germany, in August. The 17-piece band is going to “be in the neighborhood” - Minnesota - so they added a stop in Post Falls to their tour.

For all of you trivia buffs out there, Herborn is the birthplace of our town’s founder, Frederick Post.

Plans are being made by the city, the Chamber of Commerce and the Historical Society for a special concert in the Post Falls Pavilion to coincide with the official dedication of the facility. Be sure to mark Aug. 3 on your calendar for these events.

One of the perks of being involved with the local Junior Miss program since 1988 is getting to know so many of the wonderful young women who’ve participated in the program. Just this week two of these outstanding ladies have some exciting news.

Jennifer Hayes, 1996 Post Falls Junior Miss, has spent a couple of years in Washington, D.C., as administrative assistant to then-U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne and later to U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson. Last fall she came home to attend Gonzaga University and work as the administrative assistant to GU’s president.

Jennifer is now headed to Boise after accepting a new job as the special assistant to Idaho’s first lady, Patricia Kempthorne. In one of those funny coincidences, I’d joked with Jennifer back in February that there might be an opening in that position if current special assistant Brooke Gambrell, who is also Miss Idaho USA, were to win the Miss USA Pageant. Brooke didn’t win the pageant but she’s going to law school. Jennifer had made such a good impression on the Kempthornes in Washington, D.C., that the first lady of Idaho called and offered the job.

Nichole Billetz, the 2000 Post Falls Junior Miss First Finalist, also is having a stellar spring. She followed up her Junior Miss outing with a first place win at the high school talent show. She was elected president of the Idaho Association of Student Councils and was selected as a Girls State delegate. She’s one of three state finalists to become the Idaho D.A.R.E Role Model.

I think this girl needs to buy a lottery ticket while she’s on a roll!

I’ll let you in on a little secret, something most tourists don’t get to take advantage of in the summer. This time of year is the very best for viewing the falls at the Avista dam in Falls Park. There’s over 20,000 cubic feet of water per second flowing over the dam and it’s a pretty spectacular sight. Bring your camera.

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